Current issue: 58(4)

Under compilation: 58(5)

Scopus CiteScore 2023: 3.5
Scopus ranking of open access forestry journals: 17th
PlanS compliant
Select issue
Silva Fennica 1926-1997
1990-1997
1980-1989
1970-1979
1960-1969
Acta Forestalia Fennica
1953-1968
1933-1952
1913-1932

Articles containing the keyword 'berry yields'

Category : Research article

article id 972, category Research article
Outi H. Manninen, Rainer Peltola. (2013). Effects of picking methods on the berry production of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), lingonberry (V. vitis-idaea) and crowberry (Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum) in Northern Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 47 no. 3 article id 972. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.972
Keywords: berry yields; commercial picking; wild forest berries
Highlights: Berry production of bilberry, lingonberry and crowberry was studied after picking the berries by plastic hand rake, long-handed metal rake, and powerful picking by long-handed metal rake; Berry production was not affected by the damage caused by any of the picking method; Current commercial picking methods do not endanger the berry production of the berry species at least in short-term.
Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info
The effect of commercial wild berry picking on berry yields is under a strong public debate in Finland. Especially high concern has been arisen over damages caused by metal rakes used in commercial picking to subsequent berry production. We studied the berry production of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), lingonberry (V. vitis-idaea L.) and crowberry (E. nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum (Hagerup) Böcher) after picking the berries by 1) plastic hand rake, 2) long-handed metal rake and 3) powerful picking by long-handed metal rake, in northern Finland during 2010–2012. In the powerful long-handed metal rake treatment the aboveground vegetation was raked twice to the moss layer after berry picking. Biomass, which was removed from the vegetation by rakes was collected and used as a measure of the damage. We assumed that picking by plastic hand rake would result in lowest, long-handed metal rake intermediate and powerful picking by long-handed metal rake highest biomass loss from vegetation. The amount of biomass loss should in turn be reversely reflected into berry production. However, only the powerful picking by long-handed metal rake removed higher amount of biomass than other picking methods in bilberry and lingonberry. In crowberry, the amount of biomass removed by rakes increased from treatment to treatment. Contrary to our assumption, berry production of bilberry, lingonberry and crowberry was not affected by the damage caused by any of the picking method. We conclude that long-handed metal rake used in commercial picking is comparable to hand rake in terms of berry production.
  • Manninen, Agrifood Research Finland MTT, Eteläranta 55, FI-96300 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: outi.h.manninen@mtt.fi (email)
  • Peltola, Agrifood Research Finland MTT, Eteläranta 55, FI-96300 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: rainer.peltola@mtt.fi

Register
Click this link to register to Silva Fennica.
Log in
If you are a registered user, log in to save your selected articles for later access.
Contents alert
Sign up to receive alerts of new content
Your selected articles